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AN
ADDRESS,
DELIVERED
AT THE INTERMENT
OF
MRS. HARRIET STORRS,
CONSORT OF
REV. RICHARD S. STORRS,
BRAINTREE, MASS.
JULY 11, 1834.

BY
REV. JOHN CODMAN, D. D.

Printed for private distribution.

BOSTON:
MUNROE AND FRANCIS.
1834.

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ADDRESS.

There are some events, in the providence of God,so completely overwhelming as to render it extremelydifficult, almost impossible, to give utterance to the fullfeelings of the soul through the medium of words. Languagerefuses its aid to relieve the burdened heart; andthe oppressed spirit finds itself more inclined to the deepsilence of grief, than to the expression of its sorrows bythe human voice.

When the heart-rending intelligence reached us of theevent that has filled our souls with grief and dismay, wefelt that no language could relieve our distress or mitigateour sorrow. We were dumb: we opened not our mouth.Our hearts bled—and they bled most freely in silence.But the solemnities of the occasion await us, and theusages of society demand, that we should attempt to giveutterance, in the presence of our fellow creatures, to thosefeelings, which we can pour out before our compassionate[Pg 4]God and Saviour in sighs and tears, without the interventionof set forms of speech.

But where shall we find words to express the depth ofour affliction? Where shall we find language to depictthe character of the dear departed—or to administer comfortand support to the beloved survivors?

Mysterious Heaven! how unsearchable are thy judgments,and thy ways past finding out! We bow beforethat holy and righteous Being, whose inspiration gave usunderstanding, and who has the undoubted right toresume the gift which he bestowed. We know that allhis ways are just and equal, and that he will not hold usaccountable for any act, committed in the absence of thatmental and moral power by which we are enabled to distinguishbetween right and wrong.

On the painful and distressing circumstances, bywhich our ever lamented and beloved friend is numberedamong the silent dead, we will dwell no longer than toexpress an entire and unwavering conviction, that hercharacter and present condition cannot in the least degreebe affected by the manner of her removal from thissublunary state. We have not the shadow of a doubt,that the spiritual intelligence, which once beamed uponus with such mild and gentle lustre, and which was,for a short season, shrouded in darkness, is now rekindledby the same gracious hand that so mysteriously overshadowedit, to burn, with increasing and never-endingbrightness, with seraphs that surround the throne of God.[Pg 5]

It is utterly impossible for the speaker to do justice tothe character of our much loved friend, though it has beenhis privilege to have known her worth for nearly thirtyyears. The circle of christians which, at the time ofhis first acquaintance with her, then resided in ourmetropolis, many of whom are now in heaven, weredistinguished for deep and ardent piety. Surroundedas they were by fashionable and increasing errors, theymaintained their integrity and held fast their attachmentto the doctrines of grace. The precious namesof Mrs. Waters, and Mrs. Mason, and other aged saints,are embalmed in the memory of many a child of God.With these venerable pilgrims was associated a youngdisciple, who, with all the loveliness of youthful attractions,separated herself from the world, and consecratedherself to the service of her God and Saviour. From theprayers and conversation of these aged saints, through theblessing of God, she seemed to receive a peculiar unctionof spirit, which was strikingly characteristic of her futurecourse. In all plans of usefulness, which, though smalland few when compared with those which distinguishthis stirring age, no one took a more decided and activepart. Her peculiarly affectionate manner ingratiatedher with many, who were won by her mild andlovely spirit to congeniality of sentiment and effort. Herusefulness at that period, in the sphere in which shemoved, was by no means inconsiderable; but the greatHead of the church had still more important and interestingduties for her to perform.[Pg 6]

There are few situations in life that present more promisingfields of usefulness to a pious, devoted female, thanthat of the wife of a minister of a united parish. Even thepastor himself, with his additional opportunities of affordinginstruction from the sacred desk, can scarcely exert a greateror a happier influence upon the minds and hearts of hiscongregation, than is often produced by the more humble,but not less important labours of his devoted companion.Her influence is not unfrequently greater than his, especiallyupon her own sex, and upon the tender, openingminds of the lambs of the flock. In the promotion ofbenevolent enterprize, by female associations, and inmaternal counsels and prayers for the children of thechurch, she finds her appropriate and successful sphere,though upon the whole congregation, in their variedseasons of prosperity and adversity, her silent but benigninfluence is felt like the dew of Hermon, like the dewthat descended upon the mountains of Zion.

From the more diversified and exciting scenes of usefulnessin a city our departed friend was called to themore arduous and self-denying labours that devolve uponthe conscientious wife of the pastor of a country parish.With what untiring zeal, with what scrupulous fidelity,she discharged these duties, I need only appeal to thiscrowded, this weeping, this afflicted assembly! From lispinginfancy to hoary age, the testimony is one and the same.The children of affliction remember with affectionategratitude her tender sympathy and her active benevolence.With the spirit of her divine Master, it may be[Pg 7]truly said, that "in all their afflictions she was afflicted."Mothers, with their youthful charge, will never forget herwise counsels and her fervent prayers. The aged and infirmwill pour out their benedictions upon her memory,and even babes and sucklings will lisp the praises of one,who watched with maternal solicitude over their cradles,and taught them to pronounce the name of Jesus.

But, great and painful as this bereavement is to thisafflicted people,—their griefs are almost forgotten, whenwe turn to the chief mourner in this scene of deep andheart-rending calamity. God help thee, my brother!—TheGod of Jacob, the Angel of the Covenant sustainthee! That your brethren, your people, the church ofChrist, your numerous and attached friends, feel for you,you cannot doubt. Could they have averted the dreadfulblow, how readily would they have hastened to your relief.But no human precaution could turn aside the fatalstroke. Dethroned reason will find opportunity to escapethe most vigilant eye, and to elude the most watchfulcare. But dwell not, my brother, on circumstances whichwere beyond human control, and which affect not in theleast degree the accountability of the dear departed. Buryin the grave, to which we are soon to assign these preciousrelics, as far as possible, the memory of the awful circumstancesthat attended their dissolution, and think only ofthe bright and happy spirit, of what shewas, and whatsheis. O! she was every thing which a fond husbandcould desire in a companion of his life and labours; trulya help-mate for him in his temporal and spiritual concerns,[Pg 8]in his family, and in his parish; in the social circle, andin the widely extended plans of usefulness in which thedevoted servant of Christ is sometimes engaged beyondthe limits of his congregation.

My brother, in the repeated domestic bereavementswhich you have sustained, you have indeed been greatlyafflicted, but you have also been greatly blessed. To thelot of but few does it fall to have been united to two suchcompanions to cheer them in their pilgrimage through thisvale of tears.[A] Their sainted spirits are waiting to receiveyou to those blessed mansions where reason holds herunclouded empire, where sighing and sorrow can nevercome, where death can never enter, and where sin cannever defile.

But not yet, my brother. The Lord hath need ofyou to work in his vineyard. From your repeatedand heart-rending trials you will be better qualified, thanever for that important work which the Lord has assignedyou in his American Israel. Go on then, my brother,and spend and be spent for Christ; and when you shallhave performed your appointed service, you shall bewelcomed by those whom you have loved on earth to thesociety of the redeemed—to the vision of Jesus—to thepresence of God.[Pg 9]

And you, the dear and only child of the lamented dead!My heart bleeds for you. Your loss is indeed irreparable;but a mother's prayers are your legacy, and they are betterthan thousands of gold and silver. How much she lovedyou, and how closely you were entwined about the fibresof her heart, is abundantly evident from the affecting fact,that maternal solicitude, struggling with departing reason,directed her to the bed of her sleeping child to bid him alast and long farewell. Although the affecting circumstancesof her removal can never be obliterated from yourmemory, think less of them than of the pious counsels, theholy example, the fervent prayers of your much-lovedmother. Let these dwell on your mind, and they will bea restraint, a comfort, and a support to you under all thevarious trials of life to which you may be called. Godbless you, my dear child! May your life be sparedto your surviving parent, to console him in his deep affliction,and to be the prop of his declining years.

The near relatives of our departed friend claim andreceive our tender and affectionate sympathy. More especiallydo we feel for that afflicted sister, who, while shemourns with us on this affecting occasion, has the additionaltrial of watching around the sick bed of a belovedhusband, deprived also of the exercise of his reason.May she be supported, in this season of her deep affliction,by the consolations of that holy religion, which areneither few nor small.

And may all the relatives and the numerous christianfriends of the deceased, whether present or absent, be graciously[Pg 10]sustained under this painful bereavement, and bow,with humble submission, to the will of God.

Friends of this Church and Congregation, with you toowe heartily sympathize.

You have been called in divine providence to repeatedtrials. We bear record to your disinterested regard to thecause of evangelical religion in our growing country, inconsenting to the arrangement by which, for a definite period,you have been deprived of the immediate services ofyour beloved pastor. You have hitherto had the consolation,and it has been one of no small importance, of the presenceand laborious efforts for your good of the partner ofhis life. With what exemplary patience, with what admirableself-denial, she sustained the peculiar trials of hersituation, watching around the couch of a dying brother,[B]administering to the comfort of your late youthful pastor,[C]adopting into her family the orphan and the fatherless,[D]while her best earthly friend was laboriously employed inthe service of the church, are well known to you all, andought to be suitably appreciated. How far she fell a sacrificeto these painful deprivations—to this uncommonself-denial, is known only to Him, who is best acquaintedwith the intimate connection between the body and the[Pg 11]mind.[E] That she died in your service—in the service ofher family—and in the service of her God and Saviour,cannot admit of a doubt. You will delight, I know, tocherish her memory, to dwell upon her virtues, and toimitate her example.

And now, my respected hearers and friends, it onlyremains, that we deposit these precious relics in yonderreceptacle of the dead! there to rest, till the trump of thearchangel awake the sleeping dust. Then, when themillions of the dead shall burst the cerements of the grave,we doubt not that the bright form of our departed friend,arrayed in immortal youth and vigour, will ascend to meetthe Lord in the air, and enter with him into his glory.

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NOTE.

Mrs. Storrs had been for months declining in health—afact more evident to herself than to others, because shestill continued to discharge her usual domestic duties withalacrity and cheerfulness. But often, the conviction of hermind on this subject extorted from her the remark—"myconstitution is breaking up—I cannot long live." Thoughthe remark had never fallen from her lips in other years, itwas too little heeded by her friends.

It was on the evening of March 5th, 1834, that shewas suddenly seized with a delirium that indicatedinflammation on the brain. A physician was immediatelycalled, and his skilful applications seemed to beblessed; the disease yielded; and after a few days,Reason resumed its seat; not however to hold it as formerly,but only to sway a broken sceptre, and fill theminds of friends with constant alarms. From this timetill the first of June, the struggle between disease and naturewas constant, and the issue doubtful; but on thewhole, it was evident that themind was losing its powerof judgment, and submitting to the control of a bewilderedimagination.[Pg 13]

Her most judicious friends judged it expedient tochange the scene, and try the effect of new objects andthe revival of old friendships on her disordered system.She herself, having been often benefitted by the fatiguesand various occurrences of journeying, consented to themeasure with some cheerfulness. And on the 12th ofJune, we left our home, and leisurely pursued our way tothe western part of the State, calling freely on those friendsshe had long known and loved, and sharing largely intheir kind attentions. But nothing could restore to hermind its balance. Occasionally cheerful for an hour—buthabitually brooding over some imagined impropriety ofconduct, or deficiency of faith and love, she fancied herselfa burden to the world, a curse to the church, and an alienfrom God. It was July 7th when we reached home.And by this time, the disease had advanced so far, as toleave but short intervals between the ravings of delirium.Her agonies, in her oft repeated language, were "inexpressible."Her bodings were fearful. And it was on themorning of the 10th instant, between the hours of five andsix o'clock, that she eluded the long continued vigilanceof her family, and secured time enough to execute a deed,which of all others she most abhorred when of sane mind—adeed, which she believed to beright, becausedethroned reason left her a prey to the imagination thatthe honor of God, and the interests of Zion demanded it.

Inscrutable mystery! A more devoted friend of Jesus—amore humble and self-denying disciple—a more laborious[Pg 14]and consistent co-worker with the saints—a more prayerfuland active promoter of the great Cause of Benevolence—israrely to be met with in any age, or in any land.

Aside of all the fond partialities of one who for fifteenyears has known the blessedness of the most intimatecompanionship with so eminent a child of God, I deem itduty to say, in present circumstances, that her dutieswere always her pleasures—her religious privileges, hersweetest delights—her grand aim, in all things, the gloryof God;—her trust was reposed in his promises alone—herhopes were founded on Christ—and her only desiredreward was, the consciousness of honoring the religion sheprofessed.

She rests with prophets and apostles. So saith theSpirit, and her works do follow her.

R. S. STORRS.

Braintree, July 15, 1834.

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OBITUARY NOTICE.

WRITTEN BY REV. B. B. EDWARDS, AND PUBLISHED IN THEBOSTON RECORDER.

Died at Braintree, Mass. on Thursday morning, July10,Mrs. Harriet Storrs, wife of the Rev. RichardS. Storrs, in the 48th year of her age. She wasa daughter of the late Mr. Samuel Moore of Charlestown.Her mind was first deeply convinced of the importanceof personal piety in listening to the sermons ofthe Rev. Dr. Griffin then minister of the Park streetchurch. She became a member of the Old South church,when the Rev. Joshua Huntington was its pastor. Thedepth of the loss sustained by her friends and by the churchof Christ, cannot easily be estimated. In her characterwas that rare union of lovely natural qualities withintelligent, elevated piety, which sweetens domestic life;throws such charms over the intercourse of friendshipas all persons can feel but none describe; and whichexhibits in a most striking manner what that state wasfrom which man fell, and to which the grace of the HolySpirit can restore him. The path of her life was coveredover with evidences of her kindness. Every where she livedfor the happiness of those around her. Her benign inquiries,her cheerful footsteps, her sweet smiles, the samein joy and grief, those mysterious lines on the countenance,which almost ally the sympathies of humanity tothe purity of angels, seemed to say to all whom she met,that she was their servant for Jesus's sake. She was truly[Pg 16]the light and joy of her domestic circle, shedding the calmand steady lustre of true piety; in her humility apparentlyunconscious of the blessings which her presence afforded;and always prompt to give all the glory of anygoodness in herself and others, to her Lord and Redeemer.She discharged the interesting obligations, whichdevolve on the wife of a clergyman, with singular readiness,kind feeling and success. She was aware of theresponsible and delicate nature of many of her duties,and habitually looked for guidance to the great Head ofthe church. He was graciously pleased to hear her prayers,and to bless her labors. Her name will long be likeprecious balm in the hearts of multitudes, who testify,with entire unanimity, to the value of her labors of love.

For several months past, "her soul has been full oftrouble," for she thought that God had "laid her in thelowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps, that his wrath waslying hard upon her," "that she was cast out of his sight,and should never again be permitted to look towards hisholy temple." "She longed for death" and it has come;and we doubt not that her glorified spirit is in that landwhere the inhabitant shall not say "I am sick," wherethey "hunger no more, neither thirst any more; andwhere God shall wipe away tears from off all faces."

The funeral of Mrs. Storrs was attended on Fridayafternoon in the meetinghouse of the first church in Braintree.We never saw evidences of more unaffected andheartfelt grief, than were exhibited by the large congregationconvened on this occasion. Prayers were offeredby the Rev. Messrs. Gile of Milton, and Perkins of Weymouth,two appropriate funeral anthems were sung, anda very interesting and affecting address was pronouncedby the Rev. Dr. Codman of Dorchester.

Transcriber's Notes

Page 7: Changed hasiened to hastened
(how readily would they have hasiened to your relief.)